


The Boys of Summer

by Ilja_Oblomow



Category: Don Henley
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-03
Updated: 2013-01-03
Packaged: 2017-11-23 13:01:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/622408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilja_Oblomow/pseuds/Ilja_Oblomow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Late summer 2012 - getting inspired by an old music video "The Boys of Summer" by Don Henley.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Boys of Summer

**The Boys of Summer**   
Rain started to pour down heavily just as she finished painting her right toenails in an almost neon red color. How he had laughed about her tiny feet …

She had jumped into the footprints he'd left deep in the sand and they'd taken a picture of the odd combination before a huge wave had washed it away.  
"You're so tiny. There must be some Hobbits in your ancestors", he'd mocked her good-naturedly, then pulled her up into his arms and whirled her around until they'd both been dizzy.

But that was in the past, days ago. She sighed and leaned back onto her bed. Arms over her eyes she sighed again. Now she would have to face her parents again. Being a good daughter always meant a lot of preparation. Rouge for her cheeks to look fresh and healthy, hair tied up, decent clothes and sensible shoes. She hated herself for doing this against her will. She was 21 and a student, for goodness sake! But looking into her mother's sad eyes when she again had managed to displease 'The Colonel' was something she couldn't bear any longer.  
She had revolted. Oh yes, she'd had her _difficult years_. Time when she'd had lilac hair, black torn clothes and high heels, but it all had ended suddenly when she'd come home earlier than expected and had seen her mother hastily trying to cover her left black eye.

Does unconditional love exist?  
Up until the second day of her latest vacation her answer would have been 'no'.   
Her experiences had been sobering. You always have to give and you always have to leave something behind to fit into a new crowd. As a child you have to pay back your parents by being good, working hard in school, and making them proud of your chosen career. As a wife you have to function. Her mother's words had a simple truth: the relationship must work. The wife has to see to it like a good mechanic.  
In many ways she was like her mother. Her relationships had been the same.

Nobody had prepared her for him!   
She had worked hard for her 2 weeks vacation on a beach in Hawaii and had won the fight with her father about going there with her friend Susan alone.   
Her friend, the blonde, long legged Susan had found her summer love Alex only 3 hours after they'd arrived at Waikiki. She hadn't used their hotel room very often since.  
When she entered the breakfast area on her second day without Susan, she sat down at the French window looking out on the beach. The early surfers were preparing their boards. That's when she saw him.  
He wasn't like the others. He was gorgeous, and he was alone.  
She watched with growing fascination how he pulled off his shirt, attached the leash and ran into the water. Her eyes never left him when he paddled out wide and suddenly got onto the board. She'd never been so mesmerized in her life.

A soft groan escaped her and she rolled onto her stomach. It was time to get ready. Her parents would arrive shortly at the hotel and she still had to get dressed and take her bike to get there in time to meet them.   
When she stood up, a little piece of paper rustled behind her. She took it in her hands and smoothed it carefully. A cell phone number. _His_ number.  
With a quick flick of her wrist she tossed it into the trash. It joined the crumpled email from the new university. She had to stop dreaming now!  
She smiled sadly into the mirror and began brushing her hair.   
She imagined his hands in her hair curling her strands around his fingers while lying on the sand, watching the stars …

When he'd returned to the beach, shaking his head to get rid of the water in his ears and hair, she couldn't stop watching his chest, his strong arms and, setting down her tea cup with a discernible tremble, his legs. Long muscular legs in tight-fitting trunks.  
He went over to his bag, retrieved his towel and began to rub his hair. It was short cropped, military-style and soon stuck out in all directions. With a last longing look out to the waves, he grabbed his bag and board and went towards the parking lot.  
She was disappointed to see him gone, but while her blood pressure returned to normal, she was already looking forward to see him again the next morning. It never occurred to her, that this could have been his last day of vacation.  
Smiling she got up and went to the lobby. She bent down and tried to see the beach and parking lot from this spot out of the corner window and crashed into a mixture of grey t-shirt, white shorts and sneakers.  
"Whew, I'm sorry, ma'am."

She tied up her hair into a loose ponytail, glad her father didn't expect her to wear pigtails anymore. Her plain white bra, reserved for this kind of lunch dates, looked surprisingly good on her tanned skin. While she put on the white cami and freshly ironed blouse, her thoughts went back to imagining him undressing her …

Of course it had been him there in the lobby, hair still wet and such a crestfallen expression on his face that it had taken all her will power, not to burst into a fit of giggles. He'd offered her a cup of coffee and she'd agreed.  
That was how it began.  
Sometimes you need time to get to know a guy. Slowly get used to his funny little ways. But sometimes you only need a little nudge to fall in love.  
They were granted 10 days, before he had to leave for the academy again, 10 blissful days of sun and love.  
All the things they both had loved before like surfing, hiking, swimming, talking and laughing, they discovered anew. Different now, because they enjoyed the art of sharing.  
It wasn't the same ocean, the same beach or the same sky anymore, when you were able to look at it through the eyes of your lover.

But her love was gone now. The new semester would start soon and there was no time for romantic dreams.  
Covering her bright painted toenails with black stockings, she swallowed a bitter laugh as tears threatening to fall. Black pants and shoes, her backpack, raincoat and keys and she was ready to go.  
A few yellow leaves were swirling on the ground and the cool wind and raindrops stung her eyes as she raced to the hotel on her bike.  
He'd always been the one to win the races they'd had and she'd loved it, because she had known the price she'd have to pay. In her ears their laughter resounded, the carefree laughter that had always ended with a kiss …

Their first kiss had been the best and after that the kisses had become better and better. You can't get used to kisses when the man you love is able to lay his very soul into them.  
Only on their last day they'd talked about the future. How difficult it would be to go on with their relationship with him in his last year in the Southwest and her going back to her New England university. They'd postponed the final decision until their next kiss and the kiss following this. Early the next morning he'd given her his cell phone number.

So he'd left it in her hands and right now, cycling through the rain, she'd made up her mind.  
She opened the door to the hotel's restaurant and saw her parents, her father already arguing with the waitress. She kissed her mother on the cheeks, gave 'The Colonel' a brief hug and placed her coat and rucksack onto the free chair, then sat down.  
Answering her mother's question about her vacation vaguely, she quickly came to the crux of her new plans.  
The discussion that followed in the middle of the well-filled restaurant was short, fierce, insulting and very unpleasant.  
Between her father calling her "insane" and "irresponsible" and her mother sending her begging looks, she straightened her back and raised her voice.  
"I will go. I will leave tomorrow."  
It went quiet for a while. The only sound was her father's frantic gasping for breath. She looked into his red face and saw his carotid pulsing, then the trembling voice of her mother filled the void: "Where are you going, darl?"  
"I mean it, girl. I meant what I said. If you go, there'll be no money and you won't be welcome anymore!" Her father gulped down his red wine and wiped his sweaty brow with his napkin.  
She stood up, pushed her chair to the desk properly and grabbed her rucksack and coat.  
"If that's what you want, I accept, father."  
Before leaving the restaurant, she turned to her mother and locked eyes with her. She was sorry, she really was, but she knew her mother would understand. Almost soundlessly she muttered: "Colorado Springs" and left the room.


End file.
